Lifestyle

I strive to keep my tone light and bright, but as the cliché goes, life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. So while I’m feeling a bit vulnerable writing this, I hope you take something helpful and positive from it.

Ever reach the end of the day and wonder where it went? Do you feel exhausted by lunchtime? Or feel like all you do is run around catering for others when you get home from work? Family, school, work and extracurricular activities fall top of the priority for most of us. But what about you? Shouldn’t YOU be at the top of YOUR list too?

This is a tricky time of the year, as we probably all endured a round of sugar-laden holidays and now more hoopla has arrived with Valentine’s Day. So that means more sugar ninjas are lurking in the shadows to stealthily make their attack. But should that necessarily be a bad thing?

With the start of the New Year just a few days away, many of us are scrambling to come up with our resolutions to better ourselves for a new beginning. Perhaps it’s shedding off some weight or rekindling a lost relationship. Or maybe we’re going for the extremes and demanding ourselves with expectations that ultimately add more stress and anxiety before we even ring in the New Year.

We’re right in the middle of the holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Social gatherings are fun, but they can get overwhelming when added to our already busy schedules. We spread ourselves thin between work, trying to find the right gift for everyone, showing up at every party (so no one gets upset with us), all while keeping up with our everyday responsibilities. Being around family can also be stressful at times. Besides, we tend to eat and drink more than usual which means we have less time for self-care, making us feel sluggish, tired, anxious, stressed, and guilty.

We’re cruising head-on into the holiday season and with that comes glassfuls of merriment, sprinkles of overindulgence and an ounce (or two) of guilt, often served with a sidecar of a morning hangover. Hmph.

Are you familiar with feelings of overwhelm, underwhelm and anywhere in between where you simply don’t feel like – or act like yourself anymore? Women over the age of 35 is likely well-acquainted with not being able to get a handle on her “hormotions” because a few key hormones have started to play tricks with her body as well as her mind

No matter how busy we are, there are several ways to practice self-care everyday. These are the moments we put ourselves first. It’s not necessarily about getting a mani-pedi ahead of a an event or having time for a cup of coffee. In addition to taking care of our basic needs, we also need to decompress, centre, and check-in with ourselves to make happiness a priority.

Women in particular are known for running around after everyone else. We put people, situations and work before ourselves on a daily basis. It’s in our nature. We don’t like to let others down and constantly feel pressured to keep “producing the goods.”

You're exercising regularly...but you just seem to run out of steam before the end of the workout. It's basically taking every ounce of your energy just to squeeze that workout in, then you're spent for the rest of the day, dragging your arse around work and schlepping the kids around is an even bigger chore.

You take longer to recover than you used to. Maybe even several days, instead of just a quick 24-hour turn-around. Your muscles are tight and sore, and not the “rewarding” kind of soreness, like "I-just-did-a-kick-ass-superwoman-workout" sore. It seems like you always have a 'bum knee' or cranky hips as well.

They’re stinky, hairy and slobbery- and no, I’m not talking about your lover. I’m talking about your real partner in life, Mr.Puppy. Dogs, just like children, are mirrors of all that is sweet, innocent, natural, wild, playful and curious in each of us. They can be our greatest teachers, if we just get over the difference in our physical makeup. They don’t speak our language, which means we have the opportunity to truly observe without judgment and listen with an open mind. We can observe as they do, see what they see, and love as they love.

Our bodies produce the highest amount of cortisol in the morning. It is our body’s natural way of increasing alertness to jump start the day (6-8AM.) Throughout the day, it gradually drops, causing us to feel a decrease in energy levels around 3-4 PM, hence the “afternoon slump.”

One of the greatest abilities of growing older (and wiser) is being able to pick and choose the people we can surround ourselves with. However, it may not always be easy as we become so accustomed to being around the folks we’ve become too familiar with.

Traveling alone can be one of the most enriching experiences you’ll ever have in your lifetime, but it can also be quite tricky. We often embrace this type of opportunity with an open mind, putting more faith in the world while embracing new friendships, opportunities and experiences. While that is absolutely vital, it is also important to be aware of the potential dangerous situations that can lurk during our travels.

In case you missed it, a very interesting study was published in 2014 suggesting the health benefits of hugging. This study titled,“Does Hugging Provide Stress-Buffering Social Support? A Study of Susceptibility to Upper Respiratory Infection and Illness”, suggests that in addition to helping us feel more connected with others, hugs on a regular basis may actually keep us from getting sick.

Protecting ourselves from mosquito bites does a lot more than save our skin from swelling or itching. It lessons our chances of contracting serious illnesses such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue, and the Zika virus. It is estimated that about one to two million people die each year globally from these mosquito-borne illnesses.

The dating world and its expectations have changed dramatically in the past 5-7 years. With the dating apps, swiping, constant texting, and poly dating, I think collectively as a whole, we have lost sight of what is important. What it is that truly, in our gut makes us happy. I’m guilty of going on blind dates before having even a phone conversation with a guy to see if there is any chemistry or compatibility.